Welcome to the 16th edition of the South African Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. You’ll see from our artwork and our choice of Opening Night feature that it’s love and kisses all the way!

We have many guest filmmakers this year – both international and South African, and are able to boast a number of World Premières of South African films. They are:

John Greyson who travels courtesy of the Canadian High Commission with Fig Trees, Faith Trimel who travels courtesy of the US Embassy with Family, and she will be joined in Cape Town by actor Blanca Avalos. Simon Pearce is the young director of Shank and travels courtesy of the British Council. Christian Martin, his Producer and co-writer of the script will also attend the Festival. Lucia Puenzo and actor Ines Efron are guests of the Festival to present XXY. You will remember that XXY was banned by the Film and Publications Board last year and we were unable to screen it. Thanks to the Melissa Moore of the Freedom of Expression Institute and Adv. Stephen Budlender, this banning order was overturned. Do go to our website to read all about it. We shall be celebrating this victory at a function hosted by the Ambassador of Argentina at his residence in Pretoria. The French Embassy has assisted with three wonderful French titles in our line up. We thank them all for their contributions to the festival.

Besides attending Q&AS after screenings, each of our international guests will be conducting Master Classes at a number of tertiary institutions. Check out our website for updates.

Our South African guests presenting World Premières of their films are Jacque Oldfield and Adelheid Reinecke with the feature Dykumentary, and Mak Mamobolo and Lodi Matsetela with the second feature length installment of Society. The short films being premièred are Beautiful Contradictions by Fanney Tsimong and Nhlanhla Ndaba, In His Image by Ofentse Gcwabe and Say Hi To Bangkok by John Trengrove. Other South African guests are Zackie Achmat with Apostles of Civilized Vice, Robert Silke with The Satyr of Springbok Heights, Shelley Barry with Inclinations and Beverley Gurwicz with Jacaranda Sunrise.

This Film Festival would not be possible were it not for our generous funders – Gerald Kraak and Atlantic Philanthropies, the National Lottery Board that funds our Satellite Festivals in Ermelo, Mafikeng, Kimberley and Pietermaritzburg, the National Film and Video Foundation, and the City of Cape Town’s Mayor’s office. Our commercial sponsors include Nu Metro, Avis, La Scala restaurant at Montecasino, The Glen Hotel, Flavour Creative Cuisine in Cape Town, The Callseet, and Mambaonline, our queer media partner. Please do make a point of supporting those that support us and you.

We don’t know why it has taken so long, but we are thrilled to have Pieter-Dirk Uys open the Film Festival, an honour that he will bestow on both Jozi and Cape Town audiences. We have large cinemas for those nights and will have tickets for sale.

And now for the message of such missives as this – we need the support of this community to help the Festival survive. The global recession hits funders as hard as individuals, and it is as difficult as ever to persuade those with money that gay and lesbian issues are, well, still at issue. We believe that the Festival is important as it ensures a queer presence in the newspapers, on radio and television, and on the cinema screens, asserting our presence and acclimatising heterosexuals to the fact that we are never going away. And, of course, it creates a safe, social space, providing both light-hearted and challenging films to entertain us. Please join our 8333 club, help the Festival survive – you’ll find the details on our website.

After making 22 short films we have decided that it’s time to produce a feature film. We have made an application to the National Lottery for funding and are putting plans in place. What we need are scripts for this Omnibus – short stories that we can link together to make a longer script. The Call for Scripts in on Page 6 of our printed programme, and there are even more details on our website.

What more is there to say other than – come and see lots of films, buy lots of the gorgeous OIA merchandise that we have for sale, and include a bequest for the Festival in your will!